1. Technical Field
The present inventive concept relates to battery technology, and more particularly, to a device and method for detecting the existence/non-existence of a rechargeable battery within a battery charger.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
With the development of mobile communication systems, various types of charging devices for charging secondary batteries, such as rechargeable batteries, have been developed.
A charging device may employ a battery load detecting technique which detects whether a rechargeable battery, such as a lithium ion battery, is electrically connected to or disconnected from the charging device and displays the detection result.
In an example battery load detection method, a thermistor or a built-in resistor terminal is provided in a secondary battery. In this case, a voltage generated when a current flows through the thermistor or the built-in resistor terminal is checked to determine whether the battery is loaded (e.g., electrically connected to a battery charger).
When a thermistor or a built-in resistor terminal is not provided in a secondary battery, other battery load detecting methods may be used. For example, in some detecting methods, a detecting element, such as an inductor or a capacitor, is separately provided outside the charging device.
In addition, there is a method of detecting whether a battery is loaded inside a circuit without using a separate external element. However, in this method, when the battery is unloaded (e.g., electrically disconnected from the circuit) or loaded (e.g., electrically connected to the circuit), a peak voltage needs to be equal to or higher than a predetermined voltage to detect the loading of the battery. However, in this method, the predetermined voltage is set to a normal mode value.
Therefore, there exists a need to provide a technique which can accurately detect whether a secondary battery is connected to a battery charger, regardless of a charging mode of the charger, without using a separate external element.